Abstract:
Three soil samples were taken from Hut Point, 73 from Cape Evans and 28 from Cape Royds to determine the presence/absence of Bacillus sp. At Cape Evans, transects were made and soil cores were taken to a depth of approximately 10 cm intervals of 1 meter for the length of the annex area (2003-2004). Other samples included wood, hay and feed. Molecular DNA probes were used to determine if anthrax DNA is present in any of these samples (detection level approximately 3-4 spores per gram dry weight of material). These samples were catalogued for both RNA and DNA extraction to potentially identify expressed genes and possible viability of spores. Absolute quantitative real-time PCR will be utilized for the detection and possible viability of any spores present.